Women, peace and security: Addressing the gaps and strengthening implementation

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This is the second year that ASPI has run a series on The Strategist to coincide with International Women’s Day examining Australia’s approach to women, peace and security (WPS). This Strategic Insights paper compiles the articles in that series across four themes: Defence’s approach to WPS, the role of parliament and civil society, lessons from abroad, and evolving approaches to WPS. Drawing on the analyses of contributors from a variety of backgrounds including government, politics, defence, academia, and civil society, the series demonstrates that issues related to women’s participation and leadership, and the inclusion of different gender perspectives, are integral to Australia’s national security.

As ASPI’s Lisa Sharland and Jacqueline Westermann write in the introduction to the paper,  WPS is ‘an important topic that’s frequently overlooked at the expense of what are often deemed ‘more pressing’ security issues by the media and security commentators’. With the Australian Government tasked to draw up a new National Action Plan on WPS in 2019, the paper provides important reflections on the progress that has been made, the remaining gaps and how Australia’s implementation on WPS could be strengthened.

Putin and North Korea: Exploring Russian interests around the peninsula

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The security situation in Northeast Asia has dominated much of international reporting over the last 1.5 years, culminating in the recent historic inter-Korean summit as well as a potential Kim-Trump meeting.

This Strategic Insights paper offers an analysis of what remains an often overlooked and underestimated connection: Russia’s interests on and around the Korean Peninsula. ASPI Researcher, Jacqueline Westermann, argues that it would be fatal to underestimate the Kremlin’s interests in the region, as ‘Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a stakeholder in the region, a partner to Pyongyang and a party to the previous Six-Party Talks’.

While it isn’t a top priority for the Kremlin, Russian involvement could play a handy part in Putin’s greater strategy to expand Russia’s engagement in the world. To illustrate Moscow’s specific motivations for being involved, the analysis is based on statements given by Russian government officials during 2017, as well as insights from Russian North Korea experts.

The paper portrays the geopolitical, strategic, economic and national policy interests that are driving the Russian government’s attentiveness towards the peninsula and Northeast Asia, and provides an outlook on potential Russian involvement, as well as options for the international community on what to expect from that.